>>>>> And, very few have heads on them so dragging out a
>>>>> keyboard/monitor just to [...]
[...]
>> Neither break-detect nor ttys(5) is relevant to using serial console
>> to stop the machine's clock prior to mothballing it.
> You missed the point.  I don't *use* serial consoles because THEY are
> problematic (for these reasons).  So, turning off the oscillator in
> the "clock chip" means I have to drag out a device to act as a serial
> console *just* for the purpose of shutting off the oscillator.

Ah.  Yes, sorry, I misunderstood; I took "dragging out a
keyboard/monitor" to refer to giving the machine a graphics head.  If
you normally run them with any sort of console, you should be able to
use that console; if you normally run without any console at all, yes,
any operation involving the console could be annoying.

> It would be nice if I could plug in a console (when it appears that
> this has happened) and:
> - not have that drop me to the ROM monitor (BREAK)

I've never had this happen.  Perhaps it's the connectors I use or
something; I can only conjecture.

> - have a login prompt waiting for me (ttys(5))
> It would likewise be nice to be able to do this with a
> monitor/keyboard without having ttya disappear.

Right.  NetBSD/sparc needs something akin to sun3's kd device.  wscons
is *supposed* to be the Right Fix for this....

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